The Villeroy and Boch coffee set has been loaned to the museum by the 144-times-capped Germany international Doris Fitschen and is one of the strangest exhibits documenting German football history. It was presented to the women's national team by the German Football Association as a bonus for winning their first title.
In 1989, Gero Bisanz's side won the European Championship on home soil by beating favourites Norway 4-1 in the final. The surprise success evidently caught the DFB leadership completely off guard. Nevertheless, those in charge quickly resolved to do something nice for the ladies. Whether they succeeded in their quest by gifting the players some porcelain remains disputed. Some of the former European champions still use the twelve-piece set at home. Today, however, many would look upon it with disdain. In this respect, the win bonus is also a symbol of the lack of acceptance for the women's game in Germany over many years.
From 1955, the German FA prohibited its clubs from operating women's football sections. Sepp Herberger, then coach of the men's national team, also made his views known: "In my opinion, football is not a suitable sport for women, precisely because it is a combat sport, quite apart from the fact that women, in my opinion, will never achieve the expected levels of performance.” The women, however, were not deterred. Despite the ban, they played on municipally owned pitches and also contested international matches. With the number of active players growing steadily, the German FA lifted the ban at its 1970 assembly. Gradually, the launch of national competitions led to the formation of professional structures in the women's game.
A key factor in this development was the foundation of the women's national team in 1982. The European Championship title in 1989 was followed by eight more and two World Cup triumphs. The launch of a single Women's Bundesliga in 1997 ushered in a steady increase in quality and competition at club level. Women-only football clubs such as FFC Frankfurt, Turbine Potsdam and FCR Duisburg became incredibly successful on the European stage. In recent years, more and more clubs from the men's Bundesliga have started supporting women's football, with Bayern Munich and VfL Wolfsburg now among the dominant teams.
The staging of the 2011 World Cup marked the provisional high point in the successful development of the women's game in Germany. Yet despite enjoying home advantage, the national team were unable to lift the trophy. In what appeared to be an outbreak of generosity, each player would have received about 60,000 euros from the German FA had they done so. Back in 1989, saving money was still the name of the game. Rumour has it that the coffee set was a factory reject.
Deutsches Fußballmuseum